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+--- Thread: How do you determine the formula for aluminium hydroxide? (/Thread-How-do-you-determine-the-formula-for-aluminium-hydroxide)
How do you determine the formula for aluminium hydroxide? - Keganhirl - 12-06-2021
"Criss-cross" the charges of each atom because it is an ionic compound. This will get you Al(OH)3
Explanation:
Aluminum has a chemical symbol of Al, with a charge of 3+.
Hydroxide is a molecule consisting of two elements - hydrogen and oxygen. The chemical formula for hydroxide is OH1−
.Aluminum is the cation, while hydroxide is the anion, thus we get Al(OH)3
. This is because we still "criss-cross" the charges as it is an ionic compound - electrons are transferred - so aluminum's charge of 3+ goes to hydroxide while its charge of 1- goes to aluminum.